Delta Community Living Society is looking for students ages 16-19 to participate in a summer program
Delta Community Living Society is seeking local teens to participate in a summer research project aimed at helping youth with developmental disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorder obtain after-school employment opportunities secondary.
DCLS, a non-profit community organization that provides support to people with developmental disabilities and their families, is partnering with researchers from the Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship (CIIC) at the University of British Columbia for “IMPACT 2.0”, a follow-up to the original three-year “IMPACT” pilot project supporting early interventions and improving employment outcomes for youth aged 16 to 19 preparing to transition from secondary school to post-secondary studies and/or to join the job market.
The project page on the DCLS website states that the employment rate for young people with intellectual disabilities is “extremely low” and that inadequate transition planning and support is often cited as a contributing factor.
The CIIC report on the first IMPACT cohort indicates that as of March 31, 2019, just over 24 per cent of people supported by Community Living BC reported employment income, and 82 per cent of them reported income less than $10,000 per year.
“DCLS is working to advance the fight against these low employment rates here in our community with our IMPACT project,” Tammy McEvoy, DCLS employment services manager, said in a press release.
Over the first three years of the project (2020-2022), 250 youth from eight community living organizations across British Columbia participated in various programs aimed at helping participants gain skills and experience. Researchers tracked youth progress to measure the effectiveness of these programs and develop evidence-based best practices to improve employment outcomes.
An article posted on the Inclusion BC website indicates that almost 50 per cent of the youth who participated in the pilot project obtained paid employment, and that the results of the project were so promising that it was funded for three years additional.
For IMPACT 2.0, strategies developed in the first phase of the project will be tested by five participating organizations, while five other organizations will continue to use their current approaches as a control to compare and learn which methods work best.
As one of 10 groups participating in IMPACT 2.0, DLCS is currently recruiting Delta youth to participate in the project, which begins its fifth year in June.
“DCLS has offered a youth employment program every summer since 2014. With the IMPACT research project, we have proven that early interventions actually make a difference in the lives of participants,” said Anita Sihota, CEO of DCLS, in a press release.
“Research on workplaces of people with intellectual disabilities has found that as employees, people with diverse abilities are reliable, have high productivity and excellent attendance records. Companies that hire people with developmental disabilities benefit from lower turnover and greater job satisfaction for all employees,” McEvoy added.
“We are really excited about the launch of this project,” continues Sihota. “The research supported more than 100 students each year and was made possible through an excellent partnership with other organizations in the province and financial support from the Province of British Columbia and the Government of Canada.
Those interested in participating in the project as a student, mentor or employer are asked to contact McEvoy at [email protected] or at 604-946.9655.
The deadline to apply to participate in this year’s project as a student is Friday, May 17.
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